Yes, a drone. Forget the self-driving hybrid sports car bit for a moment, and lets focus on the fact it has a drone. It’s there. And not for the reasons you suspect, nor wish for.

“It could fetch a bouquet of flowers the driver ordered online,” explains Rinspeed, “and even deliver it directly to the lucky recipient”. We shall leave that there without comment.

Aside from that drone with its own landing pad positioned at the back, we’re told the self-driving Etos sports car concept features a hybrid power train of unspecified size and power and ‘special innovative surface finishes’.

When it’s in autonomous mode, Rinspeed tells us the steering wheel folds up and retracts completely into the dashboard, while two curved windscreens move closer to the occupants for a better view. There’s also lots of connectivity akin to a sort of digital ‘personal assistant’.

It’s being unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, because “major innovations in future automotive engineering will come from the digital realm”. But we’re still scratching our heads trying to decipher a self-driving sports car with a rear-mounted drone.